KOLKATA: While the CBI is grilling two of her party Lok Sabha MPs for their alleged links to Rose Valley chitfund scam, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata on Wednesday blamed the Reserve Bank of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for letting chit fund firms flourish in West Bengal.
Speaking at the final day of protest at RBI Headquarters here on Wednesday, the Trinamool supremo alleged that RBI and SEBI let chit fund firms grow in Bengal during the Left Front regime.
"Chit fund firms were not established after 2011 (when first TMC government was formed). It started way back in 1980s. The RBI and SEBI encouraged the growth of chit fund firms in Bengal then. Whenever we found complaints pertaining to chit fund fraud, we reined in. There was no central law to prevent mushrooming of chit fund firms. Why did the monitoring agencies not rein in then? Why are they not reining in on Rose Valley and Sahara properties in Bengal even now? And now, they are trying to scare TMC with Rose Valley," she said.
The Trinamool Congress supremo also alleged that BJP and CPM were hand-in-glove. "CPM had harmads (private CPM militia) while BJP has jallaads (butchers). Even though chit funds started during their regime, we are being targeted. Both are very close to each other," she said.
She also accused the Centre of trying to kill her midair. "They tried to kill me on the plane. The pilots were suspended and blame-game started between ATC and pilots. They (Centre) can do anything," she said referring to speculations that the flight she was the returning from a meeting in Patna against demonetisation, was low on fuel.
The West Bengal Chief Minister said the arrested Trinamool Congress MPs were innocent and have been trapped.